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Home My WebLink About20230378 Washington Land Disturbance Public Comment (33) December 8, 2024 Saratoga Springs Planning Board Via Hand Delivery ATTENTION: Susan Barden City Hall – 474 Broadway Saratoga Springs, New York 12866 Laura Benton 42 Outlook Avenue Saratoga Springs, New York 12866 Lolly1234@live.com 602 499 4255 RE: Washington Street Land Disturbance NC Neighborhood Center District 239 Washington TO ALL CONCERNED: The amended site disturbance plan proffers a more palatable “tidy-up” of 2.6 acres, no storm water retention pond and major design modifications. Before any decision is made, please reevaluate some wobbly facts. The foundation of the site disturbance decision rests on the 2023 43 page site disturbance application, Project #20230378. https://lf.saratogasprings.org/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=443540&dbid=0&repo= SaratogaSprings This application contains several key mistakes. Saratoga Planning Board Page 2 The application cites extremely dated (2002 to 2013) determinations that are longer valid. Rulings issued by both the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the Army Corps of Engineers are only valid for five years after issuance. The quoted 2013 Dept. of the Army report (Permit #NAN-2013- 00413) expired in 2019; the 2002 DEC report expired in 2007. A link for the updated guidelines for Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the New York Bureau of Water is attached to the end of this letter. Generally speaking, rules lean holistic, i.e., not a fan of clear cutting. Construction activities disturbing one or more acres of soil must be authorized under the General Permit for Stormwater Discharges from Construction Activities. My first concern is drainage. Under current storm water guidelines you are allowed to maintain the current course of storm water rules, but not discharge at a faster rate depending on the acreage. The existing drainage infrastructure and the 2023 application were based on an old storm water map that’s since been revised. “Watercourse Protection Overlay District Map” now includes wetlands on the Mohr site that were not addressed in the application. Also, the retention pond has been nixed, redirecting all that unknown water capacity too into existing storm water drains at significantly higher discharge rates. Quoting an October, 2024 summary of the revised proposal: “At a minimum they will be leaving with design modifications. Mike clarified that the “project” right now is to cut down all the trees, build a berm & swale and not a pond to be able to flush all the water through the culvert under Outlook Ave. The project is to clear the site and figure out how not to inundate the surrounding properties with water.” (Nervous Italics mine). Saratoga Planning Board Page 3 It is in the best interest of all parties to work with corrected storm water information certified by professionals. For example, Cornell University offers storm water field assessments and capacity models for municipalities. https://cornell.app.box.com/s/q9q3qd35oswxglxnpd931jzblih2uj5j At the last planning meeting, the property owners alleged there are no immediate or future development plans, just asking for more palatable “site ready” improvements. A fast tracked approval without valid state permits portends significant legal risk for the city and property owner. “Doing work without a permit, or failing to comply with permit conditions, will likely cause the state, federal government or the municipality to bring enforcement action, including a fine, and an order requiring restoration of the site to its original condition (even after a structure has been built). If the violation was committed by your predecessor in ownership of the property, and you had no reason to know of the violation, you may have important rights and defenses you can raise, as well as claims against the prior owner.” Land salted with lawsuits isn’t in anyone’s best interests for marketing the property. At this point, the amended plan is at best a wonky remodel: half the size, no retention pond, no validated study if the proposed swales and berms will work, no updated engineering study on the increased discharge capacity to the sewers, no updated judgements or permits from the DEC and Army Corps of Engineers determinations, no environmental impact study. You can’t just “figure it out” as you go along. Legalese aside, the existing storm water infrastructure along Outlook Avenue was built in 2005. Since then there has been considerable residential development coupled with wetter weather conditions. The nearly twenty year old system is already stressed. I live on this street, a witness. Saratoga Planning Board Page 4 The Outlook Avenue storm water drains sporadically gush heavily and continuously for up two weeks even when there has been no rain. In that respect, the infrastructure functions; however, in a heavy rainfall the street turns into a river and you cannot see any drop into the drains. I will take a video of this lived reality the next time it happens and forward footage to the planning board. Our house at 42 Outlook Avenue has two basement sump pumps. Even in the summer with no rainfall, the pumps will suddenly turn on – a sign of the high water table and probably unpredictable underground streams. There is also an easement culvert behind our house that no longer works as designed. When it rains water flows about a third of the way up our backyard. After expensive work, our basement is now dry, but neighbors’ on-going drainage problems are recorded. Before – 30 Newton Avenue Undeveloped property across the street At nearby 30 Newton Avenue one large old growth tree and a small house were razed to build a new house – a pimple compared to what’s proposed. The construction site at the corner of Division St. and Newton Avenue is a quarter mile from locus 239 Washington Street. Saratoga Planning Board Page 5 The property across the street from the new house is a sloped undeveloped lot with wetlands ecology. I have walked my grandchildren to school past this lot for six years, compulsively picking up detested litter that gets chunked into the convenient pit. Daily or often twice daily I have trod this lot bagging trash. If you walk by the site without my boots-on-the-ground background you probably would not realize these how much this land has been altered within just the last six months. Previously, the undeveloped lot was a bowl-shaped, relatively shallow hollow with a dimple depression in the middle; now it’s rapidly subsiding into a deeper mushy caldron shape with an ever growing sinkhole and dying vegetation. After photos: The slope of the lot is steadily descending into a deeper pitch, conservatively I would estimate by two feet. Subsidence exposed geology previously hidden by soil. These crevices randomly seep water, probably from erratic underground streams. Saratoga Planning Board Page 6 Near the center is an ever expanding 10’x10’ sinkhole, once a divot; shrubs now flop after a rainfall with root balls upended. Pine trees along outer edge of the undeveloped lot are dying, probably because these pine trees have shallow, interconnected root systems affected by subsidence. There may be another reason for the stressed trees, but cousin trees for blocks around are healthy. Saratoga Planning Board Page 7 The storm water infrastructure on the property also links to discussions at the last planning meeting. Behind the curb, the ground has sunk around a large drain that now looks like a short metal toadstool. During site prep at the construction site, pumps ran for almost two weeks to remove water from the original basement footprint, a clogged bathtub surrounded by newly exposed escarpments. I do not have a before photo (new house already up) but if you drive south on Highway 50 right before Courtyards by Marriot, there are cut-away examples. I believe these hidden ledges redirected drainage. Another contributing water table factor may be the beautiful tree that was removed. A large mature deciduous tree drinks more than 40,000 gallons of water in an average year, transpiring that water back as water vapor that cools the air. Their thirst limits flooding after a heavy rain by helping the ground to absorb more water; their roots hold the soil together, reducing erosion and property damage from floods. Older ranch style homes along Outlook Avenue directly in front of the proposed site disturbances. Saratoga Springs Planning Board Page 8 The white house is directly across the street from me; the green house is higher up the sloped street. If you change established drainage, basements will likely flood or foundations subside. Or worse. Last year at 55 Outlook Avenue (green) a 100’ pine fell on the house after a storm drenched the soil. Half the house was crushed and the owner was lucky not to be killed. A case could be made for selective removal of diseased trees, but a simple tree survey isn’t adequate. An arborist must evaluate the health of the trees whose intertwined roots anchor the soil and absorb ground water. Increased storm water discharges impact the environment. A snip showing DEC’s general take: “Storm water runoff is a major cause of water pollution in urban areas. When rain falls on our roofs, streets, and parking lots in cities and their suburbs, the water cannot soak into the ground as it should. Storm water drains through gutters, storm sewers, and other engineered collection systems and is discharged into nearby water bodies. The storm water runoff carries trash, bacteria, heavy metals, and other pollutants from the urban landscape. Higher flows resulting from heavy rains also can cause erosion and flooding in urban streams, damaging habitat, property, and infrastructure.” https://dec.ny.gov/environmental-protection/water/water-quality/stormwater Washington Street is a heavily travelled street bordering the property that throws off particulates and dust. It is one of streets specifically targeted in a unanimous city council motion to apply for a $100,000 grant to study the impact of heavy traffic. The latest proposal this week would fill in some wetlands and clear cut that land. Clear cutting would exacerbate immediate environmental and air quality problems. Saratoga Springs Planning Board Page 9 A recent study said one large sugar maple can remove 60 milligrams of cadmium (a binder in asphalt), 140 mg of chromium and 5,200 mg of lead from the soil in a year (not entirely sure about the too-good-to-be-true lead claim). Evergreen pine trees, a dominant species on the property, are rated twice as efficient at absorbing and filtering airborne micro pollutants than deciduous trees. Pines are lungs: absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in their bark and needles, then breathing out cleansed oxygen. This year wildfire smoke darkened our skies – dead birds outside our house fell from the sky with their beaks open. When I got my car serviced, a technician recommended a ceramic coating to protect the finish. The number one reason wasn’t bird droppings, it was acid rain. US Forest Service, iTree species, ranks trees based on a set of variables including air- quality. The proposed conga line of arborvitae trees are graded “intermediate” (sensitive) to road salt and auto exhaust emissions. Clear cutting and in-filling a complex working eco-system and substituting a skinny line of trees that will probably die anyway would be disastrous. Finally, any site disturbance should absolutely include an environmental soil analysis. Out of a 10’x14x8’ area near our basement, I dug out two truckloads of trash, including a five foot deep slit where someone buried excess asphalt - two determined weeks spent with a pickaxe. Our family had a dog run put up in this area and I was bitching to the fence installers who just laughed. On a nearby recent job they had to use a hoist to jack out a rusty engine block. Saratoga Springs Planning Board Page 10 One of the contractors someone recommended (who turned down the drainage job), was an older man who grew up in Saratoga Springs and had actually helped build the ranch style homes. He told me that people routinely used the wetlands as unrestricted garbage pits when this area was mostly hilly woodland. That includes the city who in less enlightened times also used the land as a municipal dump. He said Saratoga Springs once plowed the streets with a WWII tank retro- fitted with a scraper blade. Later, the city just tipped the tank into a pond. Urban myth of not, the amount of trash I and my neighbors dig up is astounding. I have quite a collection of time-stamped old medicine bottles that date to the 1900’s. All that debris impedes water absorption rates and harms the soil. The finest accomplishment of my mad badger trash removal is that I now have earthworms. I appreciate that the planning board has a very difficult job, but please consider the Hippocratic Rule – first, to do no harm. And don’t piss off Mother Nature. Thanks you for reading a twelve page impassioned term paper and I’ll be at the upcoming meeting. Laura Benton Addendum – two pages Saratoga Springs Planning Board Page 11 LEGAL ADDENDUM PERMITS REQUIRED: New York The application form used to apply for a permit in New York is the N.Y.S. Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC)/Corps of Engineers "Joint Application for Permit." This is a joint application, not a joint permit. Applicants are required to submit complete applications to EACH agency involved. On page 2 of the form be sure to check the box indicating to which agencies applications were submitted. This procedure is designed to minimize delays in receipt of your application materials and facilitate the processing of your application. Material which should be contained in your application submittal: ▪ Joint Application for Permit - Joint Application Form August 2016 with Instructions ▪ Environmental Questionnaire ▪ Project Drawings (Sample) ▪ FCAF - Federal Consistency Assessment Form, to be used for projects that will occur within and/or directly affect the New York State Coastal Area Mail four copies of the completed materials to the NYSDEC. Four copies of the following should also be submitted with the application form: ▪ Vicinity map locating the site of the entire project. Use an existing road map or U.S. Geological Survey topographic map. This map should clearly show the names of adjacent roads. The latitude and longitude or UTM coordinates of the proposed work site should also be included if this information can be obtained. ▪ Color photographs of the site. ▪ Site plan showing the project limits as if you were looking straight down on it from above (plan view). Clearly show all waters of the United States, including wetlands, and the ordinary high water mark of any streams or rivers. (See Part II of this booklet for information on wetland delineations) Shade in the area of proposed excavation and/or fill within these waters and indicate the length and area (square feet/acres) impacted. ▪ Cross-Section View Drawings (generally required only when activity is proposed in rivers, streams or other open water areas). Clearly show all waters of the United States within the project boundary, as described above. Show length, area and volume of proposed excavation or fill within these waters. Purpose for the proposed activity. ▪ Brief description of the proposed activity. ▪ A discussion of why the proposed impacts to waters of the United States are necessary and what was done in an attempt to avoid and minimize these impacts. ▪ List of any other necessary authorizations required for the proposed activities (e.g., state and local). Please send your application materials to the following email address – CENAN-R-PERMIT-APP@usace.army.mil. Saratoga Springs Planning Board Page 12 Have any of the planning board members reached out to this source for advice? CONTACT SARATOGA COUNTY STORMWATER MANAGEMENT For further information, to report a problem or find out how to get involved in your community contact: • Blue R. Neils Stormwater Management Coordinator Cornell Cooperative Extension 50 West High Street Ballston Spa, NY 12020 (518) 885-8995 ext.224 (518) 885-9078 fax Email: brn5@cornell.edu